Union Home Secretary meets AP, Telangana chief secretaries

Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami today held a meeting with Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to discuss the contentious issues between the two states as well as the assurances mentioned in Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.
"The Union Home Secretary held a meeting with both Chief Secretaries on implementation of different assurances and schemes promised in the act like setting up of institutes of higher learning and a petroleum refinery, besides road connectivity, fiscal measures as well as a special package.
"All the concerned line departments appraised the progress in this regard," a release by AP government said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao put forth the state's arguments on institutions which have been a bone of contention between the two states after bifurcation of erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh.

"The Union Home Secretary reviewed bilateral issues. The AP government was able to put forth its arguments on issues like Schedule 10 institutions where the committee's attention was drawn to Part VI of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act which clearly says that these institutions devolve first to the successor state as well as the need to define headquarters under Schedule 10 institutions in a more inclusive way," the release said.
The Chief Secretary stressed the need to operationalise Section 8 of the AP Reorganisation Act which provides certain powers to the Governor concerning law and order, it said.

"The need to operationalise Section 8 of the AP Reorganisation Act was emphasised. The need for a common exam for a common admission process was also put forth before the committee and the committee favourably reacted to the Andhra Pradesh government's viewpoints," it said.

Meanwhile, the Kamalanathan committee on division of government employees between the two states also held its meeting and it was decided to expedite the process of division, the release said.
"Today, the Kamalnathan Committee meeting took place. Decisions were taken to expedite the division of staff between both the states. It was also decided that the division process will be taken up department by department and completed," it said.